Celebrante.com.au | Business and economy website

Celebrante.com.au

Phone: +61 438 443 435

Add/Update information

Reviews

Tags

• Business and economy website

25.01.2022 Exciting news! One of our wonderful celebrants Bronte Price has been approached to play the part of a Gay Marriage Celebrant on "Neighbours". How exciting for Bronte! Exposure doesnt get much better than that. This is a massive step forward on a number of levels. Way to go Bronte! Keep us posted on events.

24.01.2022 We live in interesting and somewhat troubled times, with the media portraying so much woe and very little or no go. With so many stories on the book of faces of weddings that have been postponed or cancelled, it would be easy to get depressed and despondent about the future of the wedding industry and in particular your own celebrant business. However, in the words of Renton in Trainspotting, we choose life. We chose to look at the positive. Lets consider this Covid-19 s...Continue reading

24.01.2022 It would be remiss of me to completely overlook the strange times we find ourselves experiencing. The loss of income for most celebrants since the COVID19 regulations came into force virtually overnight, was certainly unforeseen, and I am pleased to say it does appear that we are about to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Using my crystal ball, I predict that numbers of guests allowed at weddings will be relaxed, for outdoor ceremonies at least. The NT is leading the ...way, so well done to them! Celebrant association representatives are meeting with the Marriage Celebrants Section early May to discuss other aspects of our role during COVID19 so look out for news on that from this week. The government JobKeeper allowance is something that may be available to many full time celebrants (those with no other paid employment). To qualify, you need to demonstrate a 30% reduction in income compared to a similar period in 2019 (eg March 2019 & March 2020). The information is easy to find online, and according to some celebrants I have spoken to, the process of applying for Jobkeeper is relatively straightforward. Finally, apologies if I sound like our PM flogging the COVIDSafe app BUT I do urge you to check and update your Celebrante profile. Thanks to those members who have done this. This is key our joint success. Rest assured, all wedding industry vendors are predicting a huge season when we are finally free of pandemic restrictions. There will be those unlucky couples whose plans were disrupted, booking new dates, as well as all those couples who would normally be in wedding planning mode. Key dates will book fast, and you need to make sure you stand out when they start to search for their celebrant! Also ensure your dairy on Celebrante is kept up to date. On another positive note. We have topped the Google rankings for the month of April. This means that we consistently ranked above all other wedding websites. This an awesome result and we are stoked by the result.

24.01.2022 We wish everyone a safe and wonderful New Year!

23.01.2022 Very wise words we should all take to heart.

21.01.2022 Our hearts go out to all those affected by the bush fires in NSW, Vic, SA & WA. We hope all out celebrants are staying safe.

21.01.2022 Staying positive for the future!

20.01.2022 That light at the end of the tunnel I mentioned dimmed just a little bit this month. We started off the month with a bang! We were looking at July being a massive month. Our numbers were above our pre-Covid numbers. Then the current situation in Melbourne hit and the wheels fell off. Did still had a better month than we did the previous month which I take as a positive. We have taken steps to streamline the business so that we can be there for the long haul. We have ta...ken the approach that we stay the course and where possible not be affected by other business and what they are doing. We took the same approach when Celebrate It come onto the scene with a splash. Their business model was basically to drive us out of business and then up their prices once they had dominated the market. Our approach held us in good stead, and we are still here they are nowhere to be seen. This whole situation has very much been a wakeup call for the wedding industry, just as it has for most industries. The businesses that have learned to pivot and adapt are those that will be those that survive. We saw it with the carboard manufacture that saw his sale nosedive. He saw an opportunity to pivot his business to make collapsible school desks for children that were doing home schooling due to the pandemic. There are many other examples. The moral is that the wedding industry has been turned on its head. Many celebrants are experiencing cancellations and wedding postponements. However, there are a number of celebrants that are doing extremely well and thriving in this environment. They have managed to pivot their business to cater to the current needs in their location.

19.01.2022 Im always a sucker for a good news wedding story. https://honey.nine.com.au//2bdb0a1a-4835-4c1a-9b5d-23fd99c

19.01.2022 Something a little lighter...... https://honey.nine.com.au//848248e0-c18f-4cda-a2f6-127ab10

19.01.2022 These are the best types of weddings. https://youtu.be/PRla3xeu7MQ

18.01.2022 So well thought out and moving.

18.01.2022 As the country starts to move out of the strict COVID19 lockdown restrictions, each state determines the maximum number of guests that are allowed to attend weddings and funerals. We saw all sorts of questions on the various celebrant forums in regard to what constituted attendance at a wedding. I understand that this number applies to guests, and does not include the celebrant or other wedding services eg photographer or videographer. For your information I have tried to s...ummarise the current situation around the country. I urge you to be careful to check for yourself as each state changes the rules according to its own timeframe. NSW, Vic, ACT and Tas can have 20 guests (including the couple, but not the celebrant or photographer). In Qld 20 people may gather for a wedding, and this includes the celebrant and photographer. WA allows 100 attendees indoors and out. NT and SA have no upper limit but require adherence to the distancing guidelines. The rules are being relaxed at the state level. I urge each of you to be fully aware of your current state restrictions. There is also the matter of whose job it is to keep a record of names of all those guests at the ceremony? There has been no directive from the Marriage Celebrants Section that suggests this is the responsibility of the marriage celebrants. In fact, our job is to conduct the marriage ceremony in accordance with the Marriage Act. At the same time some celebrants may for four weeks for their own peace of mind elect to keep a register of all people attending the wedding ceremony. This is NOT an expectation of celebrants. The COVID19 crisis also led to quite a lot of cancellations and postponements of ceremonies. It has provided a timely reminder to be very specific in your Terms and Conditions document. While such a situation is hard to imagine recurring in our lifetime, it would be wise to check your refund and re- scheduling clauses. This can save confusion and misunderstanding in the event that your plans with a couple have to be changed, and it is a form of protection for you personally. As we move into winter and the restrictions gradually relax, there is a sense of optimism returning to the wedding industry. We here at Celebrante are seeing an uptick in interest on our website. Key dates will book fast, and you need to

17.01.2022 Congratulations to our own Ken Hatherly on performing this wonderful wedding for such a wonderful couple. https://9now.nine.com.au//40926035-5af4-4eb3-a49f-d3938a0b

17.01.2022 I saw this online and thought it was valuable and important to share. https://www.abc.net.au//weddings-cancelled-amid-/12059248

17.01.2022 This comes at no great surprise but how are such things measured? When couples complete their Notice of Intended Marriage, the information they provide eventua...lly makes its way to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Lots of data is taken from the forms and various statistics make their way into the public domain in due course. See more

17.01.2022 An interesting story. I hope its an isolated one. https://honey.nine.com.au//e331172f-6347-475d-b524-9ee01e3

16.01.2022 I thought this was appropriate to visit. Unfortunately classical music has been somewhat forgotten for wedding ceremonies. https://www.abc.net.au//the-best-classical-music/11984284

15.01.2022 Looking forward to seeing as many SE Qld celebrants as possible at the meet & greet tomorrow afternoon.

15.01.2022 The fires in Australia have reaching effects https://www.smh.com.au//regional-nsw-wedding-industry-left

14.01.2022 An interesting story. I hope it's an isolated one. https://honey.nine.com.au//e331172f-6347-475d-b524-9ee01e3

14.01.2022 I would like to cover three topics this month. 1. Equipment failure. 2. Celebrant leads. 3. Brisbane visit.... I recently suffered a total laptop failure. Yep, hes dead Jim (for those Star Trek fans). While Apple was fantastic about dealing with the dead laptop, Im still left falling back on my backup systems while the laptop is being fixed. So the lesson here is to be prepared for a system failure. Keep a hard copy of all your URLs for websites etc, usernames and passwords. Have a backup copy of any critical files. Know how to log into webmail for example. Know where to get support swiftly. Basically like the boy scouts . Be prepared. As you know, we work on a pay per lead basis whereby Celebrante provides the lead and it then up to the celebrant to make the approach to the enquirer. This is our point of difference. 38% of Celebrante users enquire of just one celebrant, 46% ask two celebrants ... so the odds of conversion are very reasonable. The percentage of "bogus" leads is extremely low (less than 0.1%) and usually occurs where the enquirer enters incorrect contact details. There are a number of reasons why a lead doesnt respond. 1. The lead engaged another celebrant prior to receiving your response. 2. Your response (phone message or email) for whatever reason, made the lead decide against going to the next step with you. 3. Your quoted fee wasnt in line with their expectations/budget. 4. They were seeking information for future reference, and are not ready to take the next step. 5. They enquired of more than one celebrant and chose another on this occasion, based on the email/phone responses they received from those celebrants they contacted. Celebrante will always cancel the lead where a valid phone number/email address is not provided, or where they nominated a wedding date that wasnt genuine. We encourage all celebrants to regularly refresh their profile, and cannot emphasise enough the importance of accurate grammar and spelling, and concise information. It is great to show your "point of difference" so that you will stand out from the crowd, so to speak. An up to date diary and recent photos of yourself in action are also recommended. In February Shawn and I will be in Brisbane for a few days and will be arranging a meet and greet with our celebrants. We will email our Brisbane, Sunshine Coast & Gold Coast celebrants when we finalise details. If you can make it, we would love to see you there. As always, if you have any concerns, please contact me and Ill be more than happy to discuss them with you.

13.01.2022 To my country, from an expat. A poem about the bushfires, from Brisbane expat and actor Ben Lawson. [published with permission via Bens Instagram @bennyvegas]

12.01.2022 Happy New Year! Its the start of another exciting year. First of all, I would like to thank everyone that took the time to send your congratulations to Shawn & I on our recent wedding, it was every much appreciated. If you have been away over the Christmas & New Year period and you hid your profile while youre away, please remember to unhide it. To unhide your profile, simply select Unhide My Profile from the member switchboard. Then select the green Visible button. Y...our profile will then be visible again. We are right at the beginning of peak wedding booking season. More weddings get booked in January, February and March than the rest of the year. This being the case, its imperative to bring your profile up to date. I can see that many of you, havent updated your profile in a while. Its always wise to review and update your profile. Are your photos recent? Do they show the real you? Are you clearly shown in the thumbnail photo? Is the photo cluttered? If so, find a ne then w uncluttered photo. Bring your profile into 2020. Are all your dates up to date? If you have dates in your profile that are over 12 months old, then the chances are your profile will be ignored. Its also a good time to ensure your dairy in Celebrante is up to date. As always, if you have any concerns, please contact me and Ill be more than happy to discuss them with you. Stay safe, its a jungle out there.

12.01.2022 I'm always a sucker for a good news wedding story. https://honey.nine.com.au//2bdb0a1a-4835-4c1a-9b5d-23fd99c

12.01.2022 How wonderful and uplifting

09.01.2022 Such a beautiful story.

09.01.2022 Thank you everyone for your best wishes. We had a wonderful low key surprise wedding with our friends and a fun and light ceremony. It was an awesome day.

09.01.2022 What perfect timing. It couldn't have been planned if you tried. https://www.wcvb.com//right-on-cue-lightning-str/33751967

09.01.2022 Well we are well and truly on the downward slide into Christmas. It's a time for us to spend time with our family and friends. It's also a time where we have all been known to overindulge way too much. I know I have been known to in the past. If you do overindulge please ensure you have a safe way to get home and be safe on our roads. I dont usually include personal events in my monthly news, however in this case I just wanted to share with you the wonderful news that Shawn... and I were married last month. It was a wonderful small surprise wedding with 26 guests. It was a very casual affair at little cove in Port Douglas at sunset. It was perfect in every way. If we had to do it again, we wouldnt change a thing. If you are going away over the Christmas & New Year period and not able to respond to an enquiry in a timely fashion, then its a good idea to hide your profile while youre away. To hide your profile, simply select Hide My Profile from the member switchboard. Then select the red Hide button. The to unhide your profile simply select the green Visible button. Dont forget to unhide your profile upon your return. If you need assistance with this task, please contact me and I will send you the documentation on how to do it. One final note. Time is running out if you have not completed your OPD. I can highly recommend the Gordon TAFE if you would like to complete your OPD online. Stay safe.

08.01.2022 Thanks to the Plough Inn in Brisbane for allowing us to use their "The Boardroom" for our Celebrante Meet & Greet.

08.01.2022 An interesting discussion on brides taking their husband's name. I've also seen couples where the husband took the brides name. https://honey.nine.com.au//45772dbb-f12c-4faa-b4ba-ba909e7

07.01.2022 Wow, what a difference a month makes! I won’t say that we are out of the woods but there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel. We have seen an increase of some 200% on the number of searches, profile views and leads over the previous mouth. It’s very positive and encouraging. Again, this underlines the need to ensure your intro & profile text is up to scratch. Please ensure your diaries are kept up to date.... He’s an interesting dilemma faced by one of our celebrants recently. Now we all know the importance of both the bride & groom being able to understand the proceedings and the gravity of the situation etc. But have you considered checking that the witnesses can understand English? Is it included in your interview checklist? What steps would you take if they can’t understand English? So even when you may have hundreds or even a thousand ceremonies, under your belt, you just never know what challenge is around the corner. The COVID19 crisis is extremely fluid as we can see from the current situation in Melbourne. It’s extremely important that you watch closely the restrictions on a daily basis and from location to location.

06.01.2022 Happy international password day!

06.01.2022 I found this website that I thought was interesting. https://www.moneysmart.gov.au//how-much-can-a-wedding-cost

05.01.2022 On the downhill slide into a fabulous New Year!

05.01.2022 As we all prepare to celebrate the Christmas & New Year season with our families and friends, we would like to take a moment to spare a thought for all those people that not as fortunate as us. From the homeless to those suffering from ill health, from the penniless to those estranged from their family & friends. A special thought to those that have lost their homes and livelihoods our to the bushfires across the country. Also to the members of the emergency services both ...volunteer & professional. We thank them all. Again thank you once again for your continued support of Celebrante during 2019 and wish you and yours all the very best for a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead. We look forward to working with you in 2020. With our very Best Wishes. Lance and Shawn

05.01.2022 I hope everyone had a great February! Welcome to Autumn. Due to some recent tweaks to the website, I am now better able to review statistics and analyse traffic coming to the Celebrate website. The great news is that our investment in Google Adwords is getting plenty of traffic to the website and we are way outperforming our competitors. What we found was that many visitors to the Celebrante website are doing a search for an area, then leaving the site without clicking on...Continue reading

04.01.2022 An interesting discussion on brides taking their husbands name. Ive also seen couples where the husband took the brides name. https://honey.nine.com.au//45772dbb-f12c-4faa-b4ba-ba909e7

04.01.2022 What perfect timing. It couldnt have been planned if you tried. https://www.wcvb.com//right-on-cue-lightning-str/33751967

04.01.2022 An interesting Youtube clip. Something to send to prospective clients when they question the costs of hiring a celebrant. Please excuse the Americanism of the clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch

04.01.2022 Well we are well and truly on the downward slide into Christmas. Its a time for us to spend time with our family and friends. Its also a time where we have all been known to overindulge way too much. I know I have been known to in the past. If you do overindulge please ensure you have a safe way to get home and be safe on our roads. I dont usually include personal events in my monthly news, however in this case I just wanted to share with you the wonderful news that Shawn... and I were married last month. It was a wonderful small surprise wedding with 26 guests. It was a very casual affair at little cove in Port Douglas at sunset. It was perfect in every way. If we had to do it again, we wouldnt change a thing. If you are going away over the Christmas & New Year period and not able to respond to an enquiry in a timely fashion, then its a good idea to hide your profile while youre away. To hide your profile, simply select Hide My Profile from the member switchboard. Then select the red Hide button. The to unhide your profile simply select the green Visible button. Dont forget to unhide your profile upon your return. If you need assistance with this task, please contact me and I will send you the documentation on how to do it. One final note. Time is running out if you have not completed your OPD. I can highly recommend the Gordon TAFE if you would like to complete your OPD online. Stay safe.

02.01.2022 Brisbane Meet & Greet We look forward to the oppotunity to meet our Brisbane and SE Queensland area celebrants. We have some exciting information to share with you... as well as our plans and vision for the future. We are also keen to hear your thoughts and ideas in order to keep Celebrante positioned as Australias premiere online celebrate directory. Drinks will be available for purchase at the bar. Sunday 16th February 2020 2pm 4pm Boardroom Bar The Plough Inn 29 Stanley Street, South Brisbane RSVP please by Saturday 15th February 2020 Lance & Shawn

01.01.2022 'To my country, from an expat. A poem about the bushfires, from Brisbane expat and actor Ben Lawson. [published with permission via Ben's Instagram @bennyvegas]

01.01.2022 I found this YouTube clip online and thought it was particularly useful for celebrants and how to deliver the ceremony. https://www.youtube.com/watch

01.01.2022 Wow, what a difference a month makes! I wont say that we are out of the woods but there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel. We have seen an increase of some 200% on the number of searches, profile views and leads over the previous mouth. Its very positive and encouraging. Again, this underlines the need to ensure your intro & profile text is up to scratch. Please ensure your diaries are kept up to date.... Hes an interesting dilemma faced by one of our celebrants recently. Now we all know the importance of both the bride & groom being able to understand the proceedings and the gravity of the situation etc. But have you considered checking that the witnesses can understand English? Is it included in your interview checklist? What steps would you take if they cant understand English? So even when you may have hundreds or even a thousand ceremonies, under your belt, you just never know what challenge is around the corner. The COVID19 crisis is extremely fluid as we can see from the current situation in Melbourne. Its extremely important that you watch closely the restrictions on a daily basis and from location to location.